Page 24 of Just my Puck (Love & Laughter #1)
LUCY
T he sun is higher than I’d like as I race across the sidewalk, my heart beating a staccato rhythm against my ribcage.
I’m already late, so I don’t know why I’m risking life and limb to be a few seconds less later than if I’d walked.
Still, the force to be on time is driving me, and after the morning I’ve had, I need to get in there and tell Patty everything.
As I approach the top of the steps, Maple is waiting, tapping her wrist disapprovingly.
I am already a full thirty minutes late, and the thought of her knowing why fills me with nerves.
If she asks, what am I supposed to say? Sorry, Maple, but I was banging the enforcer for the Coe Bay Titans so yeah, wasn’t leaving his bed to get to work on time?
Somehow, I don’t think it would go down too well, but also, I probably would spill it all with the bad case of verbal shits that seems to hit me when I panic.
Luckily for me, she turns on her block heel and marches back into the building without a word.
She has to be the saddest boss on the planet to be waiting for me outside.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” she clips out as she opens the door for me to go in first.
Her words make me feel bad. “Sorry, I’m late, family emergency.”
Forcing the lie out nearly gives me hives, but despite her brusque attitude, I think I see a glimmer of care in her eyes. It’s gone before I can confirm, so I duck my head and scurry across the foyer into the back to drop my bag in my locker.
Patty is nowhere to be found, and to my disappointment, the returns have been commandeered by someone else. It’s fair enough. I don’t own the job, and I was late, so it’s tough shit for me, but now it means I’m on the front desk, which is boring as hell and right next to Maple.
As the minutes tick by slowly, I’m itching to speak to Patty.
I’m self-conscious of the fact that I’m still dressed in last night’s clothes, not to mention I haven’t had a shower after having wild sex with a big-dicked hockey player.
Man, that thing is huge. And everyone talks about Jason’s trouser snake.
What about Steele’s? Why don’t more rumors circulate about the size of his schlong?
Tucking my chin further down, as if Maple can read my thoughts, I finally see Patty appear from the stacks at the back where she was busily reshelving. She catches my eye and hers light up.
“Maple. I need some help back here. Some asshole has rearranged the entire back shelf into God only knows what order! It’s a mess!”
“What?” Maple barks. “Are you joking?” She rises as if to check, but Patty blocks her way out from behind the front desk.
“No! I’m not joking!” she exclaims loudly. “Can Lucy come and help me sort it out?”
“Yes, yes, go.” Maple shoos me off. “Fix it quick.” Her pained expression is kind of funny, but I get where she’s coming from. If I’d thought it was true, I’d be in a panic as well. As it turns out, it’s only Patty’s way of dragging me out from behind the counter.
As we hurriedly walk to the back of the library, out of the way, Patty lets out a low whistle. “Last night’s clothes. Go you!”
“Shh,” I mutter, embarrassed. “It’s not like that.”
“Okay…”
“Oh, fine. It’s exactly like that. But not last night.” Glancing around, I lower my voice, “It was this morning.”
“Morning sex. Niiiice,” Patty says as we round the corner and come to a dead halt.
“What did you do?”
“I had to make it look like I was fixing the mess before I got overwhelmed.”
Giggling at the pile of books strewn all over the floor that Patty removed from the shelves, I bend down and get to work.
“Oh, my,” Maple says behind us. Her voice is faint, and she is clutching her long bead necklace as she stares at the pile. “Be quick,” she hisses.
“We’ll try,” I murmur and get to work while Maple stands there watching us and cutting our conversation short.
When she eventually leaves, Patty blurts out, “Well? Details? Which one did you bang? Or was it both?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I croak. “It was Steele, obviously.”
“Is he hung?”
Throwing my head back with a loud groan, I mutter, “Like a fucking donkey.”
“Steele Jonson by name!” she squeals with hilarity. “Right, that’s it. I’m officially jealous.”
Returning her smile as we go back to replacing the books, I decide not to tell her about the Jason request. I need to wrap my own head around it first. “What about you? Do you have someone?”
All we seem to do is talk about me. I hate that about our friendship. It’s exactly like it was with Mae, Holly, and June all talking about themselves and not asking about me.
Patty nods. “He’s not hung like a donkey, but he knows what to do with it. His name’s Steve. He’s a friend with benefits.”
“Do you want it to be more?”
“Nah, I don’t. I think he might. But I’m not looking for that right now.”
“Any particular reason why, or is it just him?”
She replaces a book with a contemplative silence. “Maybe it’s just him. I wouldn’t be opposed if someone popped out of the woodwork, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” That’s exactly what has happened to me. Steele Jonson walking in here to return my personal property and asking me out was definitely woodwork-popping action.
“So he’s got a huge dick, no surprise there, but did he know what to do with it?”
Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, I nod. “Oh, hell, yeah.”
She snickers. “I would’ve been extremely disappointed and disillusioned if you’d said no.”
“I just hope he wasn’t disappointed with me.”
“What? Don’t be absurd! I bet you rocked his world.” She pulls her face then. “This conversation has taken a weird turn. Take the compliment, and let’s move on.”
Giggling like a fiend, I nod and grabbing another book, I tell her about their magnificent house instead.